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Built in 1893, same year as my house.
Posted on 06/27/2006 12:14:08 PM PDT by RWR8189
NEW LONDON
A YEAR AGO last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that my home can be taken by the government and handed over to another private party for its private use. The only requirements are that the city must have some plan in place that says another owner can create more jobs and pay more taxes than I do.
There went my property rights -- and yours, too.
Hardly a day goes by as I work in my garden or have a cup of coffee in my kitchen, both of which overlook the Thames River and Long Island Sound, that I don't ask myself, "If I had to do it all over again, would I?" Even on my worst days, and there are many, my answer is the same: "Absolutely yes."
It was in February 1998 that I first heard that Pfizer Inc. was coming to New London. I remember thinking that this was going to be trouble for us in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, right next door to where the company was coming. Little did I know just how prophetic that thought was.
I immediately phoned Lloyd Beachy, the mayor then, who said he shared my concern and would take the side of the homeowners. He suggested that I call a local activist to see what I could do to defend my home.
Since that day, Lloyd and thousands of other people have become my sounding boards, my comrades in arms, and my best friends. Over 500 came to New London from as far away as Kentucky and Texas for a rally last July 5 to protest the notorious Supreme Court decision that carries my name. Without their support and that of the Institute for Justice, my fight would have been over years ago.
Where do I stand at this point? I think what I have thought from the very beginning: This is my home, and no one has the right to take it from me, especially for the vague concept of "economic development." I tell you honestly, and from my heart, that nothing will cause me to change my goals or my values.
Mark Twain wrote, "Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." My illusion has been, and will continue to be, that my home is mine.
Had the City of New London needed our homes for a school or a fire station, we would have understood that it was truly a "public use" and we would have complied. But there is no public use here. Building a hotel or upscale condominiums so someone else can live here is not a public use or even a public purpose. And in fact there are no specific plans for the land where our homes stand.
What do I think should happen now? What I thought should happen eight years ago: I and the Cristofaro family, who are also holdouts, should be allowed to keep our homes and live in peace. We should be able to pass these homes on to our children and grandchildren. This is America, isn't it?
[Editor's note: On June 5, the New London City Council voted 5 to 2 to authorize the city attorney to obtain a court order to seize and demolish the homes of Susette Kelo and Michael Cristofaro.]
Doesn't that simple desire define the safety and security of the American Dream? That is the dream that U.S. Justices Kennedy and Stevens and Souter and Ginsberg and Breyer gave away.
Last September, when we again received eviction notices, our governor, Jodi Rell, intervened on our behalf, asking the New London Development Corporation to rescind those notices and declare a moratorium on eminent domain until the legislature had had time to consider a bill to protect Connecticut property owners. An informal moratorium is in place to protect those whose homes were condemned after mine, but it is not retroactive.
But in any case, the legislature failed to act, so all Connecticut property owners are now in the same boat as I.
This has been a stressful eight years. More often than not, I wake up exhausted and wonder if it is all worth it. But though I've lost my rights and my property, I cannot quit.
The threat of eminent domain continues even though Governor Rell asked that our homes be incorporated in the redevelopment project; the City Council rejected that request, choosing instead to evict us. We now face the prospect that when the wrecking crew is trundling down the road, the city councilors -- my own city officials, who are supposed to protect my rights -- will have us dragged from our homes.
Nevertheless, I and the others who remain, who are outraged at this gross violation of our basic civil rights, still plan to keep our homes. That's how much they mean to us. We plan to keep fighting.
At some point, a day of reckoning will come for all. We will all have to answer for things we've done or failed to do. On that day, I would much rather be me than be the people trying to take my home.
Susette Kelo was the lead plaintiff in Kelo v. City of New London, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that private property could be taken for private economic development.
She should go get several tons of dioxin and whatever other toxic crap she can find and dump it in her yard.
If there is ever another revolution in this country, the kind with armies and guns, someone on the side of the rebellion should ensure that the name Kelo is given to a fearsome weapon of some kind. It deserves that.
The Supreme Court is worthless.
...and build a nest for spotted owls, gnat catchers, bald eagles, and import a baby seal or two to swim by her piece of shoreline...
I'd make them bulldoze the house down on top of me, or at least I'd make sure there were people there to film it when they tasered me and beat the hell out of me and throwed me in jail. Sometimes that's the only way people will understand.
Free country? where?
I literally feel like throwing up.
That was the worst ruling ever by the supreme court.
It's so wrong on so many levels that I can't even begin to convey it.
God bless Susette Kelo.
She is an American heroine. I hope she keeps fighting until they do drag her from her house. She should make sure every news organization in the world is there to film it.
Right across the Thames River from Fort Trumble was Fort Griswold on Groton Heights. It was attacked by a British/Loyalist force commanded by Benedict Arnold in 1781.
The British burned New London. Before assaulting the fort, the British demanded surrender from the garrision or there would be no quarter. The defenders held firm and after a fierce battle the British / Loyalists captured Fort Griswold and massacred many of the American defenders. Several were buried on the battlefield and inside the fort.
It is a foul irony that the spirits of these brave patriots dwell on grounds where a battle for American ideals once more takes place. Again it is fellow Americans who are betraying, trampling on and destroying an ideal for which so many bravely gave their lives in our Revolution.
My sentiments, also. It's a damned shame. Hopefully, a similar case will go to the SC and get this one overturned.
In the past, people have fought and died for things less than this.
It should be the case that government officials who make decisions like this feel the need to always looking over their shoulder.
Built in 1893, same year as my house.
Susette Kelo is one of my greatest heroines!!
What a great weekend for her article to come out.
Let us focus on the sacrifice of our founders and
the spine and fortitude this brave woman has
demonstrated these past 8 years.
May the good Lord bless her perseverance somehow.
When you fill your prescription, ask if it is made by Pfizer. If so ask if there is a suitable generic or other substitute. Some freeper might have a list of common Pfizer drugs handy. If he does, post it please.
If there is ever another revolution in this country, the kind with armies and guns, someone on the side of the rebellion should ensure that the name Kelo is given to a fearsome weapon of some kind. It deserves that.
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Amen Bump!
This just makes me cry. I feel like I am living in a George Orwell novel, not the USA.
Carl Drega
Amen.
The Supreme Court WAS worthless. It has redeemed itself in post-Kelo decisions.
I don't know, but it's definitely in the top 10. Any ruling that results in millions of abortions a year has to be worse.
When the Supreme Court overturns its decision in Kelo, which it will when one more sane person gets appointed, I hope Scalia or someone with a witty writing style skewers the horrible reasoning of the first one and just calls them out on what they did. They need to make it embarassing to write such drivel.
Is she planning for them "Carl Drega" send off?
bump
Kelo is the decision where we were publicly told that we live in a fascist state, and your private property exists only to carry out the will of the Marxist overlords.
The five supreme court justices should have been impeached for treason, found guilty, stripped of citizenship and all property and given a one-way ticket to North Korea.
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